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Who is AOC and Why She’s Flooding Our Timelines

This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at UC Riverside chapter.

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, or as her fans call her AOC, is the youngest womxn to have been elected to the U.S. Congress, and might I add, a total Bad A**.  Our New York representative is a Bronx womxn with a fiery passion against injustice, who isn’t afraid to stand up to bullies. 

You may recognize her from a viral speech she gave on the floor of Congress this past July, where she called out Representative Ted Yoho of Florida for making disrespectful remarks at her in front of Capitol Hill, where he called her “disgusting” and a “f*cking b*tch.”

Our timelines were flooded with images and quotes from this event. AOC mentioned how this type of harassment is not new to her, and it’s not new to millions of womxn. She had to stand up because she knew the countless voices she was representing, “I am here because I have to show my parents that I am their daughter and they did not raise me to accept abuse from men”. As a first-generation student and daughter of immigrants myself, seeing her stand up to her bully was completely inspiring and moving. 

Scrabble tiles spelling "feminist"
Photo by Jen Theodore on Unsplash
She is the representation someone like myself has been looking for.

As The Guardian notes, her popularity also derives from the fact that she’s real, she relatable, and she cares about the day to day issues that affect the everyday consumer. AOC has proven to be a trailblazer for the underrepresented voices, “she speaks the language of her young fans, and they’ve probably never seen anything like it from a politician before.” She actively interacts wth her constituents through social media, such as Instagram, where she recently raised 66k in under an hour for undocumented workers! She tweeted out that everyone who donated had, “offically just done more for essential workers who are undocumented than Mitch Mconnelhas all year”, it was an impressive win that spoke to her influence. AOC simply continues to break boundaries! When sworn into Congress she wore gold hoops and a bold red lip noting, “next time someone tells Bronx girls to take off their hoops, they can just say they’re dressing like a Congresswomxn.”

Photo by Aaron Kittredge from Pexels
From pushing a Green New Deal, to fighting for the silenced voices of Puerto Rico, AOC is here to challenge bullies, push boundaries, and make sure that the underrepresented are heard. Keep an eye out for her, she’s definitely a growing force that will not be stopped.

Jay Telles

UC Riverside '22

Fourth-year English major with a love for social justice, fashion, and woman empowerment.